Thank You Students

It is always fun to have a student make a suggestion and be able to successfully implement it right away. Soon the informative speeches will begin. A session or two before that, I have the students engage in a game of Whose Line is it Anyway. They all seem to enjoy it.

There are a number of ideas behind having them play this game. First, they see that improvisation is not that easy. Second, it gives them a little fun before the seriousness of graded speeches starts and finally, it usually embarrasses most people a little bit. I explain that the reason many people feel apprehensive before giving a speech is they are afraid they will embarrass themselves in front of others. Then I tell them they just did so simply relax and enjoy giving the speech.

One thing which I do when playing the game is I tell the students they can put me in any skit(s) they want. I would not ask a student to do something I would not do myself and usually they enjoy seeing me play the games as well.

It was suggested by one of my students that we do a game called “Green Screen”. This is where you have a reporter in the field and two anchors at a desk. The reporter only sees a green screen, no images on it, even if s/he is looking at it, much like a weatherman. The anchors, who can see the images, give clues by asking the reporter certain questions about the event and the reporter has to guess where s/he is.

I do not have a green screen but I can put images up on the board. So, I went to youtube and put an image on the board. The only difference was the person playing the part of the reporter was not allowed to look at the screen. It went so well we actually played two of these games and I now have another game to add to my arsenal. Thank you, my students!

The McCain-Obama Debate

The debate between McCain and Obama took place and I am glad it did. I thought both candidates came off fine and neither had any major blunders. There were a couple of aspects about the debate, however, that did annoy me.

First off, McCain referred to Obama as compiling, “The most liberal voting record in the United States Senate”. Honestly, such comments bother me, largely because we hear them every election cycle. We were told that the Kerry-Edwards ticket was the most liberal ever; ditto Gore-Lieberman; ditto Clinton-Gore, etc. I just finished discussing with one of my classes how, when you make a claim, you need to back it up otherwise it is just an assertion. It bothers me to see politicians just throw buzz words around—try backing up the claim.

I also felt that both candidates, when they were asked questions or attacked on an issue they did not want to answer, simply found a way to question the opponent’s judgment. Both candidates did it and I noticed it as it happened but now, naturally, as I try to come up with an example, I can’t think of any specific ones. I do remember Obama making an attack on McCain, although I cannot remember the specifics beyond the fact that it had to deal with foreign policy, and McCain instead of responding came back to a claim he made earlier about Obama, as the subcommittee chairman, not holding some face to face meetings. As stated before, though, both candidates did this.

So, there is definitely material I can use for my Public Speaking class. Still, on the whole, I did think both candidates came across effectively and presidential. As to who won the debate, I am guessing that depends on who you were favoring heading into the debate. I think McCain supporters are going to say that he won the debate while Obama supporters are going to say he won the debate. That perhaps is another lesson I can use when we get into persuasive speaking.

Lessons From The Past

It is amazing how things which happened years ago can still have an impact on one’s life. I remember when my wife and I were moving to a new apartment and I ended up needing a truck rental. Driving such a vehicle was not my idea of fun and I keep driving at a snails pace because I was not comfortable with a rental truck; it was too big.

Having the opportunity to drive something smaller, or even pay someone to do the move for me was the lesson I learned and since that time, when moves have needed to take place, I’ve learned from my previous occurrence. It is that same approach I hope I bring to the classroom, willing to learn from things I’ve done in the past.

Debating

Years ago, when Iran had taken U.S. hostages, then President, Jimmy Carter, refused to campaign. He said that all his time needed to be put into the negotiations. Of course Carter had an obligation to do what he could to help the hostages. Carter, however, also had an obligation to tell the American Public what a second Carter terms would look like and to explain how he would handle some of the situations that had occurred (some his own doing).

Now, almost 28 years later, John McCain seems to want to hide as well. The economy, right now, is THE ISSUE, it is what is on everyone’s mind. Claiming that he wants to help find a solution, that talking about this could have negative affects and that now is not the time for campaigning, McCain appears trying to duck the public, much like Carter did.

Right now, this is the issue on everyone’s mind. Hearing the candidates debate, especially about how they would handle this situation (I realize this debate is supposed to be about foreign policy but clearly if it happens it would need to be, and should be, about the economy), is not only fair game it is the way things should be handle. Hearing how the two candidates would deal with this situation could sway my vote. I want to hear the plans.

Teaching Public Speaking, I tell my students it is good to talk about timely topics, topics in which they are interested, topics which they believe would interest the audience and would be important to the audience; Senator McCain, this discussion meets all of my criteria. Stop hiding and start debating!

The Cell Phone Speech

Soon the informative speeches start and, as always, I am interested to see the topics students will come up with. Of course there are the standards but it is always fun to hear some of the more unorthodox speeches. I think back to a student who gave a speech about cell phones and talk about how agents get people to purchase cell phones, to switch from one company to another.

This student used to do that while in high school and he confirmed that a umber of these agents will lie and say whatever they need to just to get you to switch, so they can get a commission. I know I have felt that agents have lied to me at times.

Of course, there are the honest agents as well and there can be some good deals available. You have the at&t wireless deals that might be worth checking out. There are other deals as well. Compare the deals. So if you hear something about free Samsung phones and something else about free Motorola phones, take the time to find out which deal is better. Is everything you’ve heard true? Maybe. What can you get ion writing?

Perhaps you want to take a moment and assess if you want a blackberry and if a free free Blackberry Curve is your best option. Maybe it is or maybe you are just better with something like a free Nokia phones.

Regardless of what you end up getting, make sure to check and double check. Maybe you’ll end up with a free Palm Centro. As long as you know what you are getting into, have not made a snap decession and have checked your facts and information, you should be fine.

Good luck and remember the power of public speaking can make people aware of the good and the bad!

The Wakeup Call

I HATE homecoming! Don’t get me wrong, I think school spirit is important but I think it sometimes gets in the way of teaching and that is a problem. I run into this especially with my high school students. The fact that I end up with students from two to five area high schools does not make it any easier as each school has homecoming at a different time.

This semester I only have students from two local schools. One of these schools has the majority of students and the entire group came in very loud, rowdy and energetic. This can be a rough group (although good kids) but today they were just over the top.

In addition, due to a rally, the students told me they needed to leave half an hour early. I hate when this happens for sports and I hate it even more when it happens for homecoming. I let the students know they are still responsible for the work and they will not got credit for being there the whole time but it did not seem to matter.

I was forceful in explaining that even if I don’t get to cover certain material in the book, or they are not there to hear it, when it comes to giving speeches, I expect them to incorporate all of the information. That seemed to take them back a little but it did not stop the nonsense. Perhaps that will happen shortly.

I have decided, and this may be a little unfair on my part, when it comes to the first speech, I will end up lowering everyone’s grade by half a letter (the lowered grade will be the only one they see). Since Public Speaking is subjective anyway, I don’t think I will have a problem doing it. I think that will bother a number of students but I think it will also get their attention.

Come the end of the semester, I may raise everyone’s grade to what it normally would be but I really think these folks need a wakeup call and I am perfectly willing to give it to them.

Bush, Bailout And How I Would Grade Him If He Were In My Class

I find the entire issue with bailouts to be quite scary. I feel this way on a number of fronts. First off, the actual situation that is occurring is frightening. I do wonder, however, if people are looking to make this scarier than it needs to be.

I also question the time of this. It is amazing how skeptical and cynical we (at least I) have become. Bush has been president for eight year. The situation is announced as an election is taking place and Bush is getting set to leave office. Did he previously withhold information? Did he do certain things to prevent knowledge and damaging affects during his presidency and not care about dooming the next president? I think one must really consider these types of questions.

I find it scary that Bush is asking Congress to act quickly and the American Public to help without telling anyone his plan. Before we can decide if the plan is worthy, we must know what it is. I find it scary that McCain wants to use this as an excuse not to campaign. Yes, he and Obama have an obligation to cast votes on this plan but this is exactly the type of situation the voters should hear candidates talk about. Let’s know the difference between the two and how they would handle the situation.

If some of my students did something like this, I would be all over them. Asking for support in a speech before telling us the plan, carefully revealing information so one can question the ethical behavior of the speaker, suggesting it is more important to act than understand the situation, these are all points I would make and places where students would lose points.

Hopefully Bush can redeem himself and still pass the standards I would set up for my students. Right now, he hasn’t!